WHAT ARCHBISHOP IRELAND DID SAY
A couple of months ago Archbishop Ireland, of St. Paul's, Minnesota, preached a sermon in his Cathedral, in the course of which he referred to the persecution in France. The cable report of the Archbishop's sermon grossly misrepresented his references to the French clergy. When the faked report of the discourse was first printed in the Paris 'Matin,' a virulent antiCatholic . organ, the Archibishop cabled a contradiction, but the contradiction was not published oy the paper, .although it appeared in another Parisian newspaper. The English cable, agencies also ignored the contradiction, al though they had previously spread broadcast the false report. Here are the remarks of Archbishop Ire^- ., land on the occasion referred to as reported in the "Neiw York 'Freeman's Journal ':— " ' The conflict Vaging aif the present time between the Church and State in France awakens universal and profound interest. It could not be otherwise, were it only for the ' personalities of the contestants- ; > on the > one^ side thei Catholic Church, on the other, the "Giande Nation.' Now, by Act of - ParlUmont, Ihe Concordat is abolished ; a • regime of sepaija/titm is instituted. Let not Americans be. misled by words which have a totally different signification ' in • their land from what is allowed to ' it in France. Separation of the Church from- the State in America/ means liberty and justice ; there it means servitude and oppression. Under advice, from the Head of- the Church, the bishops of France refused the associations offered by the Law of Separation. They" acted from principle ; " in the interest of religion they could not approve suoh associations ; they could not by tolerating them appear to approve them. " "
Pope and bishops knew the consequences that were to follow ; the spirit of the Government was not hidden from their eyes ; it was an era of persecution. i War on Religion. It is a lamentable fact that there is in France a party bent on the- destruction of religion. The war is made on the Catholic Church, because she 'in France represents religion. ■ .-- • In reality? in intent, and.-in fact the war is against Christianity under any form," against religion of any kind, agftinstt the mea itself . of a God reigning over man. The old spirit of Voltaire and the encyclopedists of the eighteenth century never died out in France. This party of infidels and atheists is far ,fronr toeing France, but it is active, persistent, unscrupulous, and it forces itself ' with a vengeance to the front. It has grasped the helm of "power, and it steers the ship of Stjate into the darkest depths of mischief and irreligion. Yesterday it was Combes, the most brutal of all ; to-day it is Clemenceau, somewhat more subdued in his hotrod, but yet a- leader ,in the fight. _ With such' men there reigns- another idea, the omnipotence of the State. 'ihis was ever the plague of France, errai when her rulers were devout Catholics. The State miust control all agencies of power ; it must brook no rival. Even the Church must be in the hands of the Government. So it was with Louis XIV. and with Napoleon ; so it is with the Republic. The Republic is a name in France ; it- has 'been well said of it that it sleeps on the bed of Louis XIV. France has never understood the meaning of a Republic, which is respect for private and personal liberty, which is to leave as much as possible to the people, to- take to the State only what is heeded for the public weal. Those in Power Intolerant. * The State is a great power, and all must think and act as the State wills. 'This is certainly the spirit of the infidels who now .rule the country : and I am not at all sure it would not be, to some degree at least, the spirit of good Catholics, who, were they to be to-morrow in the ascendency, would believe it "their duty to make everyone go to Mass, as the present Government assumes it as its duty to let no one go to Mass. I know France from the Channel to the Mediterranean ; I know her cities and her villages ; 1 know her people. The masses are not used to political life. For ages they were governed ; they do not comprehend the art of governing. Nor is there among; the masses the ambition to gain political victory. Paris for a century and a-half has ruled France. Establish a new regime, monarchical or republican, in Paris this evening and the provinces awaken .to-morrow morning monarchical or republican. It will require long years to decentralise power in France, to give to each citizen consciousness of personal independence, to obtain through universal suffrage a true expression of national will. The clergy, who are now. the chief sufferers, are muchi to blame. They, too, have retained, even at the altar and in the pulpit, the spirit of passive obedience inherited from old regimes. Admirable in teaching the catechism, in administering the sacraments, they have never learned the virtues .of public life ; they have never [quickened beneath the activities of the battlefield. Their example and their preaching have left their disciples in the same passivity, and these know nothing; of the public defence of principles ; saints before the altar, they are cowards before the electoral urn. Then French Catholics have been unfortunate in many of their leaders and spokesmen. If the masses of the people have learned one thing it is this : that France is a Republic ; that they are Republicans. The infidel, the Socialist, who solicits votes, cries out :—: — ' The Republic is in peril ; no Republican - moist cast his vote for a monarchist,' and the masses vote for the. infidel or the Socialist in order that the Republic survive, trusting to the Republic to do in the} lor^? run what- is- most serviceable for France and even for religion itself. »
The evil goes farther* There is an infidel or a Socialist candidate, and opposed' to him a Republican, moderate, conservative, who clings to a peaceful, even religious France. - But he is a Republican. Monarchists, generally well-known Catholics, put up a candidate of their own. The king must not >be forgotten. If no kings live, scores of- them * have lived, and fidelity to them is the duty of the hour. What" happens ? - The Moderate Republican is defeated ; the- infidel Socialist is> elected.
' No one understood France .better than Leo XIII. He bade all Catholics seek the welfare of country and
of Church within the ranks of loyal adherents to the Republic. Had Leo been listened to, France in all probability would have escaped the religious- persecution of the present day. -Monarchical ideas and plottihgs have done dreadful injury to the Church in France.
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New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 11, 14 March 1907, Page 11
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1,124WHAT ARCHBISHOP IRELAND DID SAY New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 11, 14 March 1907, Page 11
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